St. Louis Blues forward Paul Kariya to have additional hip surgery

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St. Louis Blues forward Paul Kariya to have additional hip surgery

ST. LOUIS - St. Louis Blues forward Paul Kariya will have surgery on his right hip, a month after he had his left hip repaired.

The surgery will be performed Tuesday by Dr. Marc Philippon in Vail, Colo., where Kariya, sidelined since Nov. 5, had the initial surgery on Jan. 5.

"I talked to him about 10 days ago or so and he's so excited about his first surgery because of how it's reacted, he's at least two weeks ahead of schedule with it, and he said the pain and irritation he had in it is completely gone," Blues president John Davidson said Saturday night. "He's absolutely fired up."

Kariya had a second MRI done on his right hip, which revealed some tearing in the labrum. Kariya has had an extensive stay in Vail to rehab the initial hip injury.

"They decided while he was there to do an MRI on the other hip, and they found some damage, very similar to the hip he just had done," Davidson said. "(Kariya) called me about it and asked our thoughts about getting surgery on that.

"My first reaction was, 'Oh, geez.' And then when he explained it all to me, he said if he came back in September, and his one hip has reacted very, very well and the other becomes a problem, then he'd be kicking himself because he's got time on his side right now."

Kariya is expected to make a full recovery from both surgeries and be ready for the start of the 2009-10 season.

"If it comes through the way we expect, just like this one has, he thinks he's going to be better than he has been for years," Davidson said.